Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Employee takes spin on WH_ _L OF FORT_ N _

Lisa Hutchins on Wheel of Fortune.

Lisa Hutchins, an executive assistant at We Energies, has a bucket list, which included an item for guessing vowels and consonants. She recently checked that one off her list as she participated as a contestant on “Wheel of Fortune.”

Since she was a young girl, watching daily with her grandma, Hutchins always wanted to be on the show. She began pursuing that dream of spinning the wheel by auditioning as often as she could, spending much of her time following the “Wheelmobile,” a recreational vehicle that travels across the country, holding auditions at various public venues. Hutchins would get on the road whenever the Wheelmobile was in the Midwest.

Nearly 20 years ago, the Wheelmobile came to Wisconsin State Fair Park, where Hutchins made the final group of 20 out of nearly 2,000 who auditioned, but didn’t make the cut for the show. Last summer, she auditioned in Chicago and finally received the break she had pursued for so long: She was invited to Los Angeles for a show taping in February. She isn’t allowed to share details before the show airs, so she will be joined by family and friends to watch the episode Tuesday night. She says that her grandma is “super pumped” to watch this particular episode together.

Feeling vindicated by accomplishing this long-standing goal, Hutchins said, “If you hold on to your dream long enough, it will come true.”

Wheel of Fortune ranks as the longest-running syndicated game show in the United States. To see if Hutchins “Fortune” comes in, watch any local CBS affiliate at 6:30 p.m. CST on Tuesday, March 21.